Friday, June 29, 2012

Pear, Ginger and Thyme Martini

Experimenting with cocktails in the summer is as easy as a trip to the fruit stand. Smelling ripe fruit at the market instantly brought ideas for new refreshments but not all fruit lend themselves well to being pureed. If the fruit is not particularly juicy or if it's very fibrous, I find it more efficient to let the beverage department of my supermarket help me out.

I always look for an unsweetened juice of one particular fruit, not blends or juice 'cocktails.' And I found exactly that for the delightful pear. You could just add vodka and some citrus and call it a pear martini but I try to add complimentary flavors if it will make a more interesting flavor. Pears go well with ginger and fresh thyme and the combination made for a drink that went down quite smoothly. It's full of pear flavor but with the subtle heat of ginger and a little herbal note from the thyme. Although I prefer the drink with vodka, it also works quite well with gin. Enjoy!

Combine the ginger syrup and the thyme in a cocktail shaker and muddle together. Add the vodka, pear juice and lemon juice. Fill with ice and shake well. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a sprig of thyme.

Fresh ginger and the ginger syrup

To make the ginger syrup, combine 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar and 8 slices from a fresh hand of ginger in a pot. Simmer slowly on the stove top until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let cool and then transfer to a sealed container (with the ginger pieces). Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the ginger flavor to steep into the syrup. Note that ginger syrup also makes a wonderful sweetener for hot or iced tea.

Hi Suzi - Because the ginger syrup is sweet, I would use it in almost any application that called for a sweet syrup. I was thinking hot or iced tea but it would also be great to moisten layer cakes. Ginger would probably compliment a lot of different flavors. I hope you enjoy it!